Red beet borscht

From David KodeskiIn a crock (like the crock that comes in your large crock pot) – place 6-7 beets cut into small wedges. Cover with lukewarm water. Place in warm spot [because I keep my apartment “energy-efficient” cool- I put the crock into the oven with along with a light bulb] (maybe your oven light doesn’t turn off when the oven door is closed but mine does — essentially you want to keep the crock at least as warm as would be comfortable for a baby chick).Cover and leave it alone for a week or so. The liquid will become tart. Some folks add a slice of sour rye bread to hasten the fermentation.If any mold forms, scrape it off the surface. It will not kill you.Once the liquid is sufficiently tart, pour off the liquid into a clean container.In a soup pot sautee some (6 cloves??) minced garlic. (I like to make a bit of a garlic paste with salt and the side of my butcher’s knife)Once the garlic is fragrant and beginning to color – add the beet liquid to the pot.Add about the same amount of prepared vegetable stock – you should make this yourself in the way you have found to be the most flavorful vegetable stock.(I’d suggest onions, parsley root, carrot, celery, fennel, garlic and black peppercorn sauteed with olive oil. Salt generously)Add some beets (8 or 9?) you’ve roasted, peeled and cut into small dice.Serve with fresh dill and yogurt.

One Response to “Red beet borscht”

[…] to Charlie is Bonnie, and in the middle is David Kodeski, who last year whipped up a pair of borschts from some old family recipes, and provided said recipes heavily annotated, in the style of his […]